Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/242

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ON THE TRACK OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT

in 1880, accomplished the distance without difficulty on horse- back in a single day; Curzon did the same in 1881, but in the reverse direction;[1] and on my third transit over the route I met at Khatunabad a Persian horseman who that very day had ridden the still longer distance from Kishlak to Khatunabad, had rested for five hours near the Sar-Darrah, or Caspian Gates, and was ready to pursue his journey farther. All this I mention in behalf of the vicinity of Aivan-i-Kaif as Alexander's first halting-place, emphasizing the fact that he was advancing, as Arrian says, only with light cavalry and the Macedonian phalanx that had withstood the test of the forced march from Ecbatana to Rhagae, so that the distance from the latter place to the Caspian Gates was only 'one day's journey for one marching as Alexander did'—(Symbol missingGreek characters)[2] Truly ours had been Alexander's pace.

Aivan-i Kaif has a most euphonious name, for in Persian Aivān signifies ' Recreation Pavilion,' or ' Palace of Pleasure'; and local tradition, as already remarked, commonly considers the designation of the place to be Aivan-i Kai, 'Pavilion of the Kaianan Kings'; but the wretched condition of the entire town seemed to belie this high-sounding title, and almost

  1. See O'Donovan, Merv, 1. 366-369; Curzon, Persia, 1. 297-299. I must add that Marquart, Untersuchungen, 2, 29, 30, 34, 43, strongly urges that Alexander must have taken two days from Ragha to the Caspian Gates, but I cannot agree with him for the reasons already given, especially after having actually traversed the route in question three different times. It is true that the Arab-Persian itineraries indicate that the usual number of stages was two, but that was for ordinary caravans, whereas Alexander was pressing at full speed with the pick of his Macedonian phalanx, who were well rested, and with light cavalry. By several Europeans, who were not hastening like Alexander or like O'Donovan (who even reached Kishlak, a stage beyond), Curzon, and others, the customary easy two stages (at caravan rate of speed) were followed. Thus two days were employed by Van Mierop (in 1743), quoted by Hanway. Hist. Acct. Casp. Seq, 1. 357-358 = 3 ed. 1.246; Ferrier (1821), Caravan Journeys, pp. 64-55 (with a large and slow caravan, making two hours respectively) ; East wick (1862), Journal of a Diplomate's Residence, 2. 134-137 (making two night stages of 6 hours and 9 hours respectively, or a total of 14 hours from Rai).
  2. Arrian, Anab. 3. 20. 2.